Log in
Lost in Lace was an exhibition curated by Professor Lesley Millar MBE at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG), between 29 Oct. 2011 and 19 Feb. 2012. The project was presented by BMAG and the Crafts Council (CC) as the inaugural exhibition of the CC biennial Fifty:Fifty partnership programme. An independently commissioned evaluation reports that significant economic impact, audience development and curatorial innovation resulted from this work. BMAG and the CC were the principal beneficiaries of this impact in that the exhibition and its associated programme of activities fulfilled their stated strategic aims and ambitions for the specific project and wider organisational goals.
Irit Rogoff has shaped the emergence of an `educational turn' in the arts and humanities, arguing that contemporary artwork, together with its institutions and social platforms, transforms education practices in non-academic arenas such as museums, theatres, bookshops, art academies, and social and political occupations. This work started at the moment in which both the Bologna accord and neo-liberal impacts on education began pulling towards the professionalisation and homogenisation of Higher Education culture. All of the projects elaborated within this case study have aimed to expand the understanding of how cultural actors become educational stakeholders.
Rogoff's theoretical and curatorial research has taken diverse forms including scholarly publications, exhibitions and social forums, and she has brought these issues to audiences from the arts and public organisations beyond the university sector through advisory roles, public speaking, and social organising. Following numerous publications, exhibitions, and events, she founded freethought, an experimental platform for pedagogy, research and production. Launched in 2012 at the Austrian arts festival, Steirischer Herbst, freethought has subsequently developed a core project on `infrastructure' launched at Berlin's House of World Cultures in 2013. Her published research, exhibitions, and public forums have been widely influential in debates on education in the public sphere, as evidenced for example by her involvement as a funded partner in the establishment of a freethought laboratory in South Korea's new Asia Cultural Complex.
The case study demonstrates how research conducted by staff in the Centre for Museology has informed the development of innovative display and interpretation practices in public museums in the UK and overseas. It shows how applied critical and reflexive museology has been used in a range of curatorial contexts, thereby directly affecting institutional practice and, in turn, providing visitors and volunteers with new opportunities for engagement. The impact is evident in the curatorial process, involving both staff and stakeholders, and in critical responses from practitioners and policy-makers.
This case study describes the impact of a ten-year programme of research, which has influenced attitudes to traditional crafts and cultural heritage in India, and created an ethical model of sustainable crafts practice, leading to economic and social benefits. Research has underpinned the creation of the Ahmedabad International Arts Festival (AIAF) that started in 2009 and with MMU's contribution has now grown into a major, multi-stranded international festival.
MMU researchers have worked with museums and cultural organisations in the UK and India to develop ways of engaging new audiences, widening the reach of craft-based practices and thereby creating cultural impact. The project has also drawn attention to an endangered area of Ahmedabad, and assisted in developing a plan for conserving cultural heritage there.
This case study demonstrates how research has informed and influenced the policies and practices of a leading UK museum group, the Tate; and specifically to (a) barriers to access to publicly-funded culture and (b) responses to cultural policies advocating cultural diversity amongst audiences.
Impact includes: (i) repositioning of Tate's On-Line strategy leading to a more permeable web-site; (ii) recognition and acceptance by Tate Trustees, Management and funding authorities of the significance of longitudinal social science research in shaping the plans and future development of Tate; (iii) informing and influencing the Tate's Audience Development Strategy, 2012-15; (iv) modelling conceptual categories of audiences to allow for effective audience recognition and engagement; and (v) advising Tate's learning programmes in relation to the use of new media and making them more relevant to a diverse youth audience.
Andrew Burton's practice-based visual arts research, presented through international public exhibitions, commissions, illustrated lectures, conference presentations and publications has impacted on international cultural life and public discourse around the creative intersection between the worlds of sculpture, ceramics, architecture and craft. This research has:
a) provided opportunities for public audiences to experience unique artworks which embody and combine an articulation of fine art and craft sensibilities, methods and skills;
b) stimulated practitioner-led debate around the relationships between the practices and educational disciplines of sculpture, ceramics, architecture and craft.
Research on the significance of prehistoric clay figures of human beings (the first self-conscious expressions of human identity) was presented to the public, through two major exhibitions with associated programming attracting over 200,000 visitors, generating an estimated £5 million of economic activity. The Power of Dogu (British Museum, 10.09.09 - 22.11.09: over 78,000 visitors; Tokyo National Museum, 15.2.09 - 21.02.10: around 120,000 visitors) was followed by Unearthed (UEA, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, 22.06.10 - 29.08.10). The project attracted funding from AHRC (£282,000) the Mitsubishi Corporation (£100,000), Japan Foundation (£15,000); Hitachi funded a new online resource in English about Japanese archaeology (£120,000).
Dr Neil Brownsword's research focuses on the associated histories of ceramic manufacture in North Staffordshire, and its recent decline. Through his artistic practice, this research has been disseminated beyond academia to enhance public awareness of the social, cultural and economic effects of this downturn, on people, place and heritage. The impact of this research culturally, has arguably positioned Brownsword `at the forefront of current experimental and conceptual approaches to clay in Europe and Scandinavia' (Fielding 2008). In preparing programmes dealing with ceramic history, the BBC has presented Brownsword's expertise to communicate a broader public understanding of the region's post-industrial landscape.
The two-year ROTOЯ programme of exhibitions and events has been a cornerstone of the University of Huddersfield's efforts to introduce new audiences to contemporary art and design, as encouraged by successive Arts Council policies for enhancing public engagement. As well as raising awareness, inspiring curiosity and providing cultural enrichment, it has initiated changes to local authority policies on providing cost-effective, high-quality cultural services and has functioned as a vehicle for research into how the impact of such programmes can be captured. As such, it has served as a model partnership for local authority and university sectors in offering cultural leadership, generating and measuring engagement and delivering public services.
Research into the artist Dora Gordine established her importance in twentieth-century art and design, and her significance in the wider cultural and political arena. This research led to the establishment of an ambitious large-scale exhibition on Gordine at Kingston Museum.
This exhibition had a lasting beneficial impact on the practices and capabilities of the museum, enabling it to use the skills and experience gained in the Gordine exhibition to launch a new exhibition on Eadweard Muybridge and to build new partnerships with the British Film Institute and the Tate. This has significantly changed the culture and approach of Kingston Museum, enhancing its local, national and international standing.